Daisy

With help from Jane, who patiently looked through my pattern writing I can now give you the ............................

DAISY PATTERN © Sally Kerson 2013

Abbreviations:

R ring 
Ch chain

Cl close 
p picot

LBP long bead picot 
vsp very small picot

SR split ring 
RW reverse work

+ join B bead

MB move bead from core thread 
Cl close

Btn button 
T & C   tie and cut

Materials required: 1 four hole shirt button 11 mm, No 20 thread in two colours, size 11 seed beads

Wind two shuttles: shuttle 1 yellow and shuttle 2 white (or any colour which will suit the petals of your daisy)

Round 1 - (there will be two LBP in each hole of btn)

Using shuttle 1

SR1: 4 attach to 1^st hole of btn with LBP (2B) 4/2 vsp 4 vsp 2 Cl

SR2: 4 attach to 1^st hole of btn with LBP (2B) 4/2 vsp 4 vsp 2 Cl

SR3: 4 attach to 2^nd hole of btn with LBP (2B) 4/2 vsp 4 vsp 2 Cl

repeat until 7 SR have been worked

SR8: 4 attach to 4^th hole of btn with LBP (2B) 4/2 vsp 4 vsp 2 Cl T & C to base of SR1

Round 2

Shuttle and ball thread

Add 64 beads to shuttle thread 16 more are needed to add to picots.

(3 B at back of hand before starting)

R1: 3 p 8 BBB MB 8 p 3 Cl RW

Ch: 4 (with wrong side facing of Round 1 + any vsp on round 1) 4 RW

(3 B at back of hand before starting)

R2: 3 + B (R1) 8 BBB MB 8 p 3 Cl RW

Ch: 4 + (next vsp round 1) 4 RW

(3 B at back of hand before starting)

*R3: 3 + B (R2) 8 BBB MB 8 p 3 Cl RW

Ch: 4 + (next vsp round 1) 4 RW*

repeat from * to * until R16

R16: 3 + B (R15) 8 BBB MB 8 + B (R1) 3 Cl RW

Ch: 4 + (next vsp round 1) 4 to base of R1 T & C

See this link for diagram of adding beads onto top of buttons

                         = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

By missing out a bead on the BBB you can make room for a jewellery finding or stem/leaf, but the daisy will look just as good as an embellishment on clothes or bags etc. 

On my next blog post I will be announcing a give-away to mark an important blogging milestone so be sure to drop by or you might miss out!

Three Geckos

There would have been more than three geckos but my concentration levels are a bit poor at the moment and so a few rejected ones are lying beside me, with their legs in the wrong place!  

The pattern is of course from Jane's site and it is called Pamela's Gecko and can be found here  I have actually seen Pamela's Geckos in real life! However, the main reason for taking a break from daisies to tat these little fellows is because of someone I was talking to in the village where I live.  I have known this person for many years but what I did not know was that she had a son who also lives in Singapore, her daughter-in-law makes pottery and has named it Gecko Pottery.  So that is why I decided to make a gecko so that it could travel to Singapore.   But first I made one from variegated thread because they look so much fun in the different colours. 

Having lived and visited many places in the Far East, the last time being June, I am quite used to seeing geckos.  When my son came back from one of his trips to Asia a gecko must have wanted to return with him.  A dead one was found when sorting out the luggage recently, obviously it must have crept in there at some point during the holiday so you can imagine the horror at its discovery!

I am really looking forward to going back to the daisy pattern and hope to get it written out and posted on the blog soon.

Daisies and Angel

Thanks for all the helpful thoughts on my next give-away it seems that shuttles are always popular and with Christmas on the horizon it will become an early present for the winner. 
Only two more blog posts and I will be announcing it!

I finished the necklace and have photographed it beside some Michaelmas daisies.

Another daisy like flower is Chamomile, you may have heard of chamomile lawns? Or perhaps the children's stories written by Beatrice Potter?  Peter Rabbit's mother gave him chamomile tea when he was feeling ill. Chamomile also helps you sleep and calms you down.

And finally an angel who I had lost, but turned up unexpectedly, like they do,  last week.

The pattern comes from Mark Myers book 'Tatted Gathering of Angels" it was meant to be included in the post I did about attaching tatting to paper clips, but it flew away! 

Red Sunflower

I not only grew a yellow sunflower in my garden this year but also managed a red one!  Well that is what it said on the packet but it looks more like orange.  The Lizbeth thread falling leaves seemed to be a really good colour match.

The idea was to make another necklace but I forgot to make provision for the leaves on both sides of the flower and so it turned out to be a thank you card instead, which has already been given to someone.

I am definitely going to save the seeds from this sunflower and grow them next year, just love the vibrant colour. 

My blog posts have nearly reached 300 and so it is time to start thinking about another give-away, but should it be a shuttle ?  Perhaps people are getting fed up with shuttles, may be the give-away should be something else?   Decisions, decisions!  

Container and Book

I expect we tatting folk are all the same, forever on the look out for the best way to store tatting equipment.  My latest find was a make-up container.   I stood and pondered in the shop for quite a time wondering if the small square holes would  be big enough for shuttles, but they were, in fact it is even possible to fit two in the same slot!

                                          This is what the container looks like empty

There are always books for sale at church events and someone kindly took one out before it went on the stall and gave it to me, as she noticed a few pages of tatting mentioned in it. The book is called McCalls Needlwork and is packed full of such handicrafts.

There is no mention of who wrote these patterns which is such a shame, the book was published in the 1960s.   I am very tempted to have a go at one of them even though I hardly ever tat doilies, well once in a blue moon!